Heading Inland
Heading Inland is a funny, broody, saucy collection of stories about the kind of people you sometimes meet but might prefer to ignore.
Barker creates a wonderfully fantastical and unimaginable world: an unborn baby escapes an unsuitable mother through a secret belly-button zip; a wayward and yet enigmatic man attempts to rescue eels from an East End pie shop; a young woman discusses her fascination in other women’s breasts; a boy with his inside organs back to front desperately seeks attention; and a bitter old woman becomes bent on war with a tramp.
This collection confirms Nicola Barker as one of the most versatile and original writers of her generation with a brilliant unconventional imagination she creates a new world that sparkles with dark humour.
‘Strange and magical…Barker goes from strength to strength.’ Sunday Telegraph -
‘A singular, soaring, stratospheric talent.’ Scotland on Sunday -
‘Devastatingly funny and totally original…only Will Self can match her for black humour and bizarre fabrications…No one else in England writes like this. Don’t miss this book.’ Tatler -
‘A witty, demotic and unique talent.’ The Times -
‘The language is unfussy, direct, at times colloquial, and then, just when it is needed to produce the right emotional counterpoint, elegant and formal…What could have been heavy-handed in another writer’s hands is here transformed into something light, enchanting and moving. Heading Inland achieves everything it sets out to do. Highly recommended.’ Literary Review -
‘Another extremely accomplished collection. The writing is sharp, intricate and stylish. Each story presents its own particular and perfectly realized world…Nothing is too weird or too ordinary for Nicola Barker. I can think of few writers who can make me think of Joe Orton one minute and Saul Bellow the next.’ Guardian -